No Midnight Tiptoe
by daynaa
Summary: Because we need another one of these stories right? My take on what happened that night. EricCalleigh, duh!


A/N: It's two thirty in the morning and I haven't really slept at all for three days now, I just can't really sleep, I'll lie there for an hour or so, but I haven't been able to sleep, so I'm pretty darn weird, hah my mind is going well it's always going a million miles a minute, but it's going double time right now and I decided I am going to write a nice, fluffy, short, Eric/Calleigh fiction based on No Midnight Tiptoe because if my memory serves me right, I have not done that yet… so here we go, delirious Dayna writing things, oh my this could get dangerous haha I don't think I'm making any sense anymore…

Disclaimer: Own nothing at all

--&

"_No Midnight Tiptoe_." The words were echoing through Eric's head as he lay on Calleigh's couch. It wasn't cold, for it never got cold in Miami, yet he still accepted the blanket she forced upon him, all that Southern hospitality, and kept it spread over him as he attempted to clear his mind and get to sleep, just because it smelled of her. He knew he should have asked Speed, Tyler, anyone rather than Calleigh… he knew he had feelings for her, feelings that went beyond admiration, or lust even, and lying here on her couch surrounded by her smell wasn't making it easy for him to push those feelings out of his mind. No midnight tiptoe. The words echoed again. The smirk displayed on her face as she laid down that rule, not only laid it down, but laid it down flirtatiously, a smirk she may not have known he'd seen, but he noticed everything about her, he couldn't help but to. Infatuation, desire, maybe even love… could she detect that every time she looked into his eyes? Is that why she'd added the last rule onto the list? Or would she have done the same if it had been Speed, or Horatio even, staying at her place? But they could feel the same way, for all he knew, despite how disgusting it was, to think of Horatio being infatuated with Calleigh, or anyone for that matter. But that was beside the point at the moment. He had to make a plan, he supposed, to get Calleigh to like him back. He might at least, have a chance of her going on at least one date with him if he could string more than a few coherent thoughts together when in her presence. At work, if he had something to say about the job, he said it, but nothing more. It was a foreign feeling to him as well, he had never before been in any way awkward or nervous around a member of the opposite sex until now, probably because he hadn't really ever been in love before. There'd been lust, yes, lots of lust, strong like, but never love, not even a glimmer. This was more than a glimmer, he was sure, and it figured, that he would fall in love with the one girl he couldn't charm, the one girl he couldn't melt with a smile, with chivalry, the one girl he couldn't have.

--&

Calleigh wasn't by any means an insomniac. She usually slept perfectly fine, unless there was a specific problem bothering her, whether it be personally or professionally related. If she was bothered by something in a specific case, or was going through a tough family time, or breaking up with a boyfriend, then she might lose a few extra hours of sleep, but other than in extraordinary situations, she was unfazable. She really enjoyed her sleep. She had come to the conclusion, over the past hour and a half, that having Eric Delko sleeping on her couch was indeed an extraordinary situation. He had asked, she had allowed. It didn't seem that extraordinary, and it wouldn't have been if it was anybody else… anyone that was less chivalrous, less sweet, less handsome… less Eric. She loved the way he was so put together, so suave, so smooth. He could fool anyone, well almost anyone. She was allowed, on occasion, when he broke down on a case, or broke down for any reason at all, to see through his smooth exterior to an even more amazing man inside. She loved that even more. What she didn't love, however, was the fact that his presence in her apartment, his simple presence, was enough to unnerve her. She took pride in the fact that she was not easily fazed, that she could stay cool, calm and collected in nearly any situation. She loved the way she had learned to physically obliviate any signs of uneasiness. It gave her comfort to know she was safe, in her shell, emotions hidden from the rest of the world. Yet, he was sleeping on her couch, and she was more than fazed. It almost made her want to laugh. How hypocritical was she? She had turned down more than countless men at work, some who didn't even directly work with her, like those on the police force, because she was worried about compromising the job, she was worried about ruining her reputation, destroying her ability to keep personal and professional lives as separate as can be. And then she fell in love with Eric. She fell in love with his smile, his quirky personality, the way she could make him slightly jumpy when no one else could. The way she could see through his tough exterior, the way he could see through hers. They were friends, they were colleagues… it was wrong. She knew it was wrong, but it happened anyway. And what was she to do?

--&

The night had started out wonderfully. Chinese takeout had been ordered nearly as soon as Eric had arrived with him bringing two DVDs, two of Calleigh's favourites. There was nothing she loved more then watching her favourite movies, eating dinner leisurely on the couch, and topping it all off with ice cream straight from the carton… doing this with Eric Delko was only an added bonus. Well, a big added bonus. There was nothing more he loved then pleasing her. And then it was time for bed. Thus the current situation of discomfort, no sleep and horrendously restless minds on both of their parts. Eric was bound by the "no midnight tiptoe" rule, but Calleigh, however, was not. Climbing out of bed, not bothering with her robe as she was already slightly overheated from the fluffy comforter she had been lying underneath, she, as quietly as possible, padded out towards her kitchen clad only in a thin white tank top and short, probably too short, black boxer shorts. Rummaging through her refrigerator, trying to find something that would satisfy hunger she was feeling, she didn't notice that Eric was wide awake in the other room.

"How come the rules don't apply to you?" His voice startled her, and she dropped what she was currently holding, which turned out to be a jar of pickles who's contents were spilled on the floor. "Sorry." He apologized for startling her.

"It's okay." She smiled, tucking one side of her hair behind her ear. "And which rules don't apply to me?"

"No midnight tiptoe?" Eric smirked.

"Well, I was hungry." Calleigh shrugged, "And I couldn't sleep."

"Me neither. Here, let me help you clean that up." Eric offered, and the next few minutes were spent picking up shards of glass from the pickle jar, throwing the pickles in the trash, and wiping up the juice that accompanied the pickles in the jar.

"All done." Calleigh commented, as she threw away the last paper towel.

"Yep." Eric nodded.

"Ice cream?" She asked.

"Sure." He nodded. She retrieved the carton, which they had been eating out of earlier and placed it on the table, along with two spoons. Sitting down, they began eating in silence, for neither of the two was sure of what to say.

"So you couldn't sleep either, huh?" Eric asked, hoping to strike up conversation, as the silence was deafening.

"Nope." Calleigh shook her head. "Too much on my mind."

"Me too." Eric sighed. "Care to share? I mean, it might help you get back to sleep…"

"Yeah." Calleigh nodded; not exactly eager to tell him what had been on her mind, for the answer was him. "I was just thinking about things in general… relationships, mostly."

"That right?" Eric raised an eyebrow. "You have a boyfriend?"

"Nah." Calleigh shook her head. "Girlfriend?"

"Nope." Eric shook his head as well, taking another huge spoonful of ice cream. "Relationships just weren't working out for me lately, so I decided to stop trying. I mean, the point of them is to find someone who you can spend the rest of your life with, someone who completes you… and well, I wasn't doing that, so I figured, what's the point?" He sighed.

"Yeah," Calleigh agreed, "I've been thinking along the same lines lately."

"Although, there is this one girl… and I think she could be the one for me, if we could give it a chance… but she doesn't seem to be into me."

"That's funny," Calleigh remarked, "Because I'm in about the same situation."

"It sucks, doesn't it?" Eric sighed, losing almost all hope. She was already in love with someone. Great. "That's what was keeping me up."

"Me too." Calleigh sighed. He was already in love with someone else. Figures.

"Don't you ever just wish things would work out differently? Like in a movie, or a book?" Eric asked suddenly.

"All the time." Calleigh answered with a faint smile. "But things rarely do. If they did…"

"If they did what?" Eric asked curiously. Calleigh looked at him for a moment. She would never know if it was that faint look of hope in his eyes combined with the faint look of longing, and desire, or if it was just from her being overtired, but she answered the question nonetheless.

"You'd love me."

"I do." Eric smiled at her, looking right into her eyes. Honesty. Desire. Love. "Aren't you glad you broke your own rule?"

And that was their proof, that fairytale endings do come true more often than we know.


End file.
